TIM WEIGHT/For the Express Central Mountain’s Aubrey Eiler (26) runs for first base after batting in a run during a rainy softball game against Hollidaysburg earlier this season. The Wildcats won 12-2 in six innings.

Mother nature just can’t seem to figure things out. Despite the calendar reading that Spring has officially sprung, conditions outside have stated otherwise. In terms of developing any type of consistency, it has been very difficult for the spring sports teams here in Central PA. Athletic directors are likely to be a bit perplexed with the situation as well. Numerous events were postponed or cancelled last week. Those events need to be played at some point which means at least the first four days of this week will be busy as long as the weather holds. Let’s recap what was contested last week.

For the Wildcat tennis team, it was a productive 2-0 week. On Monday, the boys traveled to Williamsport and picked up a 3-2 win on the strength of a sweep in the singles matches. Joey McCluskey earned a come from behind three set win at the #1 singles spot, Tim Brinker grinded out a close two set win and Wesley Cowert won a two set match as well. Both doubles teams won by thin margins. On Wednesday, Milton came to Bald Eagle Township only to see the Wildcats dominate them to the tune of a 5-0 win. Cowert’s match being the most competitive of the day as he came from behind to win a three-set match. Coach Jeff Brinker sensed that his team had been playing good tennis heading into the week and that good things were about to happen. He was proven right by the two victories on the week. Brinker was complimentary of his team’s efforts stating, “The boys played well this week. We picked up two nice wins.” Joey, Tim and Wesley had a nice week. They overcame some challenges with their matches and regrouped to come away with important wins. I hope the successes builds confidence in them.”

For the track and field teams, it was a cancellation and one meet for the week as they travelled to Selinsgrove on Wednesday. Both the boys and girls teams fell to the hosts by similar scores. The boys lost 99-51 while the girls fell by a score of 99-55. Despite the losses, both teams saw some quality individual performances from numerous athletes. Top performers on the boys side were Sam Wible first in 400 meter dash, Billy Newman first in the high jump, Cooper Bottorf first in discuss and shot put, and Jonathan Hughes with a top finish in the Javelin. For the girls, it was a solid meet for Macy Plowman who captured first in 200-meter dash, Joselyn Wiseman first in the 300 meter hurdles, Grace Keohane first in the 1,600-meter run, and Lillian Downing first in the high jump. Additionally, the 400-meter relay team of Plowman, Wiseman, Sarah Hall, Marcia Owens finished first. Numerous Wildcats and Lady Wildcat performances resulted in new PR’s.

The softball team was scheduled to play five games last week but played just one, a 13-6 victory over Shikellamy. The Lady Cats would score early and often behind a balanced offensive attack to jump out to a commanding 9-0 lead after 4 innings but Shik would rally for 6 runs in the top of the 5th to close the gap. However, CM then responded with a run in their half of the 5th and 3 more runs in the 6th to secure the win. Aubrey Eiler was the leading hitter for the Wildcats as she went 3-for-4 at the plate. CM collected 15 hits in all. Coach Taylor Thompson was asked about the challenges of keeping her players sharp in spite of all the recent weather conditions.

Thompson said, “The girls definitely have the drive to keep working even in the gym with all the rain. But, I also think giving them breaks sometimes helps with the mental side of it too.” On her balanced lineup she said, “As far as our lineup goes, if I could bat 12, I would. Our lineup is strong from top to bottom which really gives us a leg up.”

The Wildcat Baseball team was also scheduled for numerous games last week that were postponed. Consequently, like the softball team, they played one game, a home match-up with Shikellamy. Again, just like in the softball contest, CM came out on top of their visitors, this time by a score of 10-0 in six innings. The win pushed the Wildcats season record to 6-0. Dane Hanna pitched four innings before being relieved by Bryce Brungard who closed out the shutout. Malaky Moyd led the Cats at the plate by driving in four runs with two hits. Coach Mike Kramer commented on the challenges posed by the weather. He said, “Weather is out of our control. We need to be prepared each and every day for the possibilities the day presents. During longer layoffs, we give our hitters and pitchers live at bats to help keep them fresh.”

TEAM OF THE WEEK

Let’s give a little love to the tennis squad that had their best week of the season in going 2-0 on the week. They have their work cut out for them this week so let’s challenge them to repeat as TOTW in next weeks review. Competition for the honor should be solid as all of the teams will be busy this week.

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Aubrey Eiler was solid for the softball team in their lone game, Malaky Moyd continues to show up positively in the baseball box scores and several of the Lady Wildcat tracksters like Joselyn Wiseman and Macy Plowman had good meets last week. However, standing tall above the rest last week was…Cooper Bottorf. Cooper has been pretty consistent thus far this season in dominating his opponents in both the shot put and discus. He’s the AOTW. Many will have multiple opportunities to shine this week. C’mon Cats and Lady Cats, make my decision a difficult one.

CAT SCRATCHINGS

Numerous CM alums are performing well in the college ranks. Among them are Alyssa Fisher and Peyton Johnson. Fisher who plays softball at Penn State Altoona was recently recognized as the player of the week for her conference, the AMCC. For the week recognized, she played in doubleheader on April 1st and 4th batting 9 for 14 with eight runs scored, six RBI, four doubles, three stolen bases, one triple, and one walk. Johnson, who plays baseball at IUP, has started 28 games on the season collecting 22 hits including 7 doubles and a home run while knocking in 21 runs. He’s also walked 13 times. Freshmen Gardner Fravel is at IUP as well and has gone 2 for 4 at the plate in limited action thus far.

Looking Ahead: The tennis team will be very busy this week as they have seven matches. The baseball and softball teams have key games against Williamsport this week. For the softball team, it will be an opportunity to reverse its only loss on the season thus far. In addition to the Williamsport contest, baseball will also have a big game at Jersey Shore. Finally, the track teams will play host to Shamokin on Tuesday. Here’s to hoping for some good weather to get the games and matches contested. Until next time, enjoy the events.